CHICO -- About 400 people attended a meeting Friday at Chico State University to address what campus President Paul Zingg has called the community's "drinking problem."

Participants spent part of the all-day brainstorming session focusing on aspects of the issue that interested them. They formed 56 groups of varying size for these discussions.

At the end of the meeting, facilitator Cesca Wright of Davis said notes from all these discussions would be analyzed to determine the main ideas that came up.

Based on these ideas, Zingg said, 12 to 15 "working groups" of interested volunteers will be formed to develop a plan of action.

Earlier, when the meeting got started, Zingg gave a welcome that included the vow, "This has to be more than talk. We have work to do, and by God, we're going to do it."

Describing how Friday's meeting came about, Zingg said in the fall, after several student deaths from alcohol poisoning, he talked to Ann Schwab, who was then mayor. They agreed it was time for an initiative to address the drinking problem.

At the beginning of January, newspaper ads were taken out announcing a "call to action." They were signed by a number of campus and community leaders.

Friday's meeting was labeled the "Call to Action Summit."

Zingg said another "summit" will be held for the Chico State students, faculty and staff.

Chico Mayor Mary Goloff was among several leaders who spoke at the start of the meeting.

She said between August and November of last year, there was "a series of tragedies that took our breath away."

Five young people in Chico "lost their lives to alcohol and drugs," she said. "How does this happen?"

She said the average age of those who died was 22.8 years. Their average blood-alcohol level was 0.286 — more than three times the legal limit for intoxication.

After these remarks, facilitator Cesca Wright of Davis invited people attending to come forward if they had suggestions or topics they wanted to discuss.

At least 50 obliged. They wrote down their ideas on sheets of paper, which were posted on the wall of the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium, where the event was being held. Those attending were invited to join groups to discuss the topics later in the morning and in the afternoon.

Some of the ideas included addressing the problem of minors drinking, campus safety, mental health and addiction, tougher penalties for alcohol and drug offenses, preventing sexual assaults, the role of the news media, educating parents about the problem and informational programs for high-school and middle-school students.

Lauri Evans, who works with "at-risk students" at Chico State, said she was attending the meeting out of concern for such students.

"I see a lot of isolation, a lot of fear," she said. "Many kids away from home are putting on a brave face. Part of that is using drugs and alcohol excessively."

Deborah Stewart, the campus' chief health officer, talked about a study she did of drinking patterns at Chico State.

She said she found that among Chico State freshmen, who are generally 18 years old, 35 percent described themselves as "binge drinkers." That term refers to having five drinks in a row for men, and four in a row for women. Nationwide, the percentage for binge drinking among freshmen is 22 percent, she said.

She noted that among Chico State students as a whole, 50 percent don't drink at all, and 11 percent are "light drinkers."

Walt Schafer, who taught sociology at Chico State for many years and advised former campus President Manuel Esteban on the alcohol issue, spoke and said the university is still trying to live down its old "party-school" image.

A new image needs to be developed, "that of a wellness campus," he said. Its motto could be "Chico State: a healthy place to live and learn."

Among those attending the meeting were university students, community members, business owners including bar owners, landlords, faculty members, high school teachers, Butte College students, high school students, police officers and City Council members.

At the end of the meeting, Wright, the facilitator, called on perhaps 25 people to give their impressions.

Several spoke about the passion and commitment they observed among Chico State students attending the meeting.

A number of proposals made at the group meetings were mentioned.

One was for a "comprehensive curriculum" that could educate new students about the alcohol problem.

Bartenders and a bar owner suggested a couple of ideas. One was for issuing customers wristbands so bartenders could tick off the number of drinks they'd had. Another was to put posters in bar restrooms listing how much alcohol is too much.

Another suggestion was to have older students "mentor" younger ones on the alcohol problem.